Lesson 29 & 30 - Building the Kingdom of God in Nauvoo, Illinois & "The Prisoners Shall Go Free"

Read Doctrine and Covenants 124 (the manual says focus on 1-21, 87-90, 97-110) & 126. Much of this material also applies to the following lesson 30: sections 2, 124:25-55, 127 and 128.

After the expulsion from Missouri many of the Saints settled in Quincy, Illinois. In contrast to the Missouri citizens, the people of Quincy welcomed the Saints. Despite the kindness, it was essentially a refugee camp and Saints would soon need to move on. Joseph chose Commerce, Illinois--a swampy marsh of a place on a bend in the Mississippi River and called it Nauvoo. The beginnings of Nauvoo were filled with illness, healing, and work. They worked to transform the swamp quickly into one of the largest cities in Illinois.

After a strenuous and long journey, impoverished British Saints almost doubled the population of Nauvoo. This letter edited by Josh Probert looks at the directions from the Twelve leading the immigration here.

The temple was the first priority in Nauvoo and it was central to the teaching in Nauvoo. 124:27 tells the Saints to "build a house to my name, for the most High to dwell therein." The temple was their primary concern. Look at Alex Smith's Revelations in Context article on Section 124 & 126 here. I briefly will focus on the introduction of baptism for the dead (more can be said about it the following week with a focus on proxy work for the dead), I will spend most of my time with the organization of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, and the introduction of the temple endowment. 

Baptisms for the dead and the endowment were both introduced before the temple was completed. (The temple only reached the treetops at the time of Joseph's death.) Joseph introduced the doctrine of baptism for the dead at the funeral of Seymour Brunson in 1841. The saints eagerly initiated the practice almost immediately. See matt McBride's article from Revelations in Context to look at 127 & 128 here. The temple endowment was introduced to small groups by Joseph in the upper rooms of Joseph's Red Brick Store. I love Heber C. Kimball's letter to Parley Pratt: "We have received some pressious things through the Prophet on the preasthood that would cause your soul to rejoice.  I can not give them to you on paper fore they are not to be riten.  So you must come and get them for your Self." (Heber Kimball to Parley Pratt, June 17, 1842, Pratt Papers, LDS Church History Library.)

I think everyone should read and study the Nauvoo Female Relief Society Minutes here. Or if you want an easy read version buy this (Virgina Pearce's essay is amazing too). We talked about Joseph teaching in those early RS meetings about the power of the priesthood here. The church organization would not be complete without the temple and Joseph would continue to teach and introduce ordinances to small groups intending that they would continue to disseminate this teachings. Read Larry Porter and Milton Backman's classic article "The Doctrine and the Temple in Nauvoo" here. And Ron Esplin's "The Significance of Nauvoo" here.

Read President Hinckley's words on Nauvoo here. As President Hinckley reminds us Nauvoo was a difficult time for the Saints, the cute brick buildings there today remember the good parts of the Nauvoo experience, not the whole of the Nauvoo experience. Vilate and Heber Kimball's house is one of my favorites in Nauvoo. They only lived in it for a few months before being pushed out.

There is so much here. Some we will be able to continue as we talk about proxy temple work next week. Here are all the BYU Studies articles on Nauvoo.